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Immunization is critical to stop spread of diseases

The outbreak of whooping cough cases is a very real result of a controversy that has baffled public health officials and made it more difficult to convince Americans of the need to take immunizations seriously.

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OPINION

Immunization is critical to stop spread of diseases

Wisconsin
Published 5:09 p.m. CT July 16, 2014

Daniela Chavarriaga holds her daughter, Emma Chavarriaga, as pediatrician Jose Rosa-Olivares, M.D. administers a measles vaccination during a visit to the Miami Children's Hospital on June 02, 2014 in Miami, Florida. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week announced that in the United States they are seeing the most measles cases in 20 years as they warned clinicians, parents and others to watch for and get vaccinated against the potentially deadly virus.
(Photo11:
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“When you make a decision not to vaccinate your child, you’re not just making a decision for your child but everyone your child comes in contact with.” Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Anyone who doubts Offit’s words need only look to California.

Halfway through the year, officials in that state reported 4,558 cases of whooping cough, double the number they saw in all of 2013. Already this year, three infants in California have died of the disease, which killed thousands of Americans every year before routine immunization began more than 85 years ago. Whooping cough (also known as pertussis) is particularly dangerous for infants, which is why doctors today recommend that everyone who many come into contact with an infant, including adults, have a recent vaccination.

The outbreak of whooping cough cases is a very real result of a controversy that has baffled public health officials and made it more difficult to convince Americans of the need to take immunizations seriously.

More troubling is the return of measles, a deadly childhood disease that was thought to be essentially wiped out more than a decade ago. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that measles is so contagious that nearly everyone who comes into contact with it and isn’t immune will get the disease.

In April, the Centers for Disease Control reported that there had been 129 cases of measles in 13 states in the first four months of the year; 58 of the cases were in California.

The good news is that the numbers are still small. Before vaccinations became available, some 500,000 Americans were infected with measles every year, according to the Washington Post. The number was 60 in 2000, although it has increased to 155 cases per year since.

That’s a tribute to Americans, who, since the mid-20th century, have embraced immunizations to protect themselves and their neighbors from once-dreaded diseases. Vaccination campaigns worldwide eradicated smallpox by 1979. Polio, which affected 58,000 people in 1952, has been limited to a few localized outbreaks in the past few years.

That’s why the recent increases in the number of cases of whooping cough, measles and other childhood diseases is so troubling. It suggests that the consensus among Americans is starting to break down, allowing these diseases to gain a foothold among the population again.

One reason may be that we’ve become so accustomed to not seeing those diseases. In the 1940s and ‘50s, for instance, just about everyone knew of someone who had come down with polio – including President Franklin D. Roosevelt – and campaigns such as the March of Dimes took the fight against the disease nationwide.

Another reason is Americans’ growing cynicism about government programs, including those, like immunizations, that have shown great success. Today, many Americans are more likely to take the word of those who oppose vaccines than of public health officials.

Nevadans know well, however, that what happens in California does not stay in California. The outbreak of whooping cough cases, which can spread as people travel, could move easily into Nevada if residents don’t follow the recommendations for immunizations. It’s critical that everyone remember what Dr. Offit said: Do it for your family; do it for everyone.